Hiroshima — The rise from the Ashes
The world has witnessed two world wars to this date. And we are totally aware of its devastating effects. But, the shivering events that occurred at the end of the second world war has shaken the world. Yes, it is about the deployment of nuclear weapons in the cities of Japan.
On, 6th August 1945 a nuclear bomb called “Little Boy” was dropped upon Hiroshima, a city of Japan. It killed 1,29,000 people and completely destroyed the city.
After the 1st world war, Germany was taken for granted by other countries like America, Britain, etc. Treaty of Versailles was made by which Germany was not allowed to keep the army in a big number. Germany had to pay a huge amount of war reparation (kind of tax). The revenue generation in Germany falls drastically. The allied countries occupied Germany’s major industrial area. The conflict made a quick rise to inflation. The economy was collapsing and the government was under a huge debt. And in 1929, there was a huge economic crisis in America. During this period Germany wanted new and strong leadership. Which was fulfilled by the soldier of the 1st world war — Adolf Hitler by creating the Nazi party and took over the government? The furious army and leadership of Germany were seeking revenge. Germany started growing its army, leaving all restrictions aside. The heat turned into a 2nd world war in 1939. Meanwhile, there was a race between the American and German Scientists to develop nukes (Nuclear Weapons) to gain upper hand in the war. Which eventually brought us all under a huge threat. Till 1945 Germany was almost lost by the allied army of America and other countries. Though, it was not easy at all for them to defeat Germany and its allies which included Japan.
In 1940, the American Government had started boosting its nuclear weapon program along with Britishers called The Manhattan Project to develop the first deployable nukes. They worked upon Uranium and Plutonium to make a workable atomic bomb. On 16th July 1945 they successfully tested their first nuclear bomb at Alamogordo, New Mexico named the Trinity project.
In 1945, Germany was defeated, but the samurais of Japan did not accept the defeat and they kept fighting. Japan was suffering more casualties but was refusing to surrender and was becoming more deadliest. The events of “Kamikaze pilots” are examples of the samurai nature of not giving up. It was the time when their weapons were about to replenished, but the army and the people of Japan kept fighting.
The American army estimated the loss of over 1 million American and allied army personnel if the war had continued. The conventional bombing was not making Japan surrender. So, finally, America and it’s allied countries decided to deploy the nukes.
On 6th August 1945, at 8:15 AM the 9000 pounds of the Nuclear Bomb called “Little Boy” was dropped from 2000 ft above from Hiroshima. It destroyed the city, everything in the radius of the bomb was dead. Mankind witnessed the devastating destruction brought by mankind itself. The adverse effects of Nuclear Radiation were started ruining every possible living thing. The decision of deploying nukes was not made only to end the world war by forcing the surrender to Japan but also to showcase the power and supremacy of America to the world for the future.
The city was unrecognizable after the nuke deployment. The idea of the government and the people of Japan was to make the city a memorial from the ruins. The Japanese Government had passed “Peace Memorial City Construction Law” which mentioned, “Hiroshima is to be a peace memorial city symbolizing the human idea of the sincere pursuit of genuine and lasting peace.” The funds were raised and the work was initiated on a huge scale to restore the city. Today the city is one of the prominent modern cities having metro trains and highly advanced infrastructure. Though, the places showing the disastrous events are still maintained and can be visited today.
The 6th of August is remembered as Hiroshima Day in world history. It was a landmark and learning curve for mankind to understand that the politics and thirst for power will eventually end mankind. And since then there is no nukes are deployed. Today we all need to understand that we all together can make the world a better place to live. Our efforts together can stop such devastating events in the future.
Originally published at https://www.thelitthings.com on August 6, 2020.
